Iran will not allow West to overthrow Assad: Salehi

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says Iran will never allow any Western plots to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to succeed.
Salehi on Sunday stressed that Iran would not allow Western projects to forcibly overthrow Assad -- whether by indirect meddling in the form of arming militants or direct meddling -- to succeed.
He added that the behavior of Western powers and certain regional countries towards Syria is in blatant violation of accepted human regulations and divine laws.
Salehi said such hostile behavior cannot be justified under any circumstances and “such behaviors must be immediately stopped which is exactly what we have proposed in the form of a six-point plan for Syria to the UN, [the UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria] Lakhdar Brahimi, and several regional countries including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.”
The Iranian foreign minister said pressures exerted on an independent country like Syria to change its policies with regards to colonialism and occupation were against international law.
“Efforts are underway to overthrow the ruling system in Syria without regards for the vote of the Syrian nation and this is while only Syrians have the right to choose their political system and leader,” Salehi said.
The top Iranian diplomat emphasized that despite increasing foreign efforts for regime change in Syria, Iran would do everything in its power to prevent this from happening.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of security forces, have been killed in the violence.
The Syrian government says certain Western states especially the United States and its regional allies are fueling the unrest.
MP/HGH/SS